Little Birds of Brockton Bay
I don't drink, so when I woke up in an alleyway with a pounding head and no idea where I was, I was understandably very confused. Then, a teenage superhero landed on my head while trying to escape from an oversized rage dragon and I figured out I'd been ROBed. I wasn't expecting to start a flock of little birds though...
And we're back! Nothing to say here, so lets get started! Enjoy!
Chapter 5
Jason Myers, the man known as Hatchet Face, was an interesting case. In another world, he would be an infamous killer, known as a boogyman to virtually everyone in the contrary as a prolific killer of Capes. In this one, he was still pretty prolific, but without Jack to direct him or the backup of people like Bonesaw, he was much less dangerous. Still not to be underestimated, but more than manageable.
Currently, he was making his way through a forest in the middle of nowhere, having just avoided being spotted by an Aerokinetic who, judging from her travel pattern, was likely looking for him after he'd been spotted killing another Brute in a nearby town. Normally, he'd try to take her out as well, but he'd learnt the hard way that taking down Blasters and Shakers was best done with an ambush where he got them into his range before they knew he was there. If they knew he was coming, they tended to keep their distance, cowards that they were.
The sound of a stick snapping drew Jason up short. He crouched down and looked around, quickly spotting the source. Walking through the trees a short distance away, and well within his area of affect, was a woman with long, gray hair tied up in a ponytail and pale skin, wearing a black and gray costume and carrying a long sword he vaguely recognized as being Japanese in origin. She wasn't wearing a mask, but the outfit and sword screamed Cape, especially considering it was identical to the aerokinetic he'd spotted earlier.
Jason smiled evilly as he tensed his leg muscles, ready to jump at her the moment she was within range. A moment later, she did and he pounced, the weapon that gave him his name arching towards the womans head.
He wasn't expecting her to duck.
Before he could recover from the swing, the woman turned on her heel and slammed the hilt of her sword into his stomach, a blow that should have done nothing but instead sent him flying back with a loud gasp as his breath was forced from his lungs. The force of the blow made him slam into a tree hard enough to knock some branches loose, but he managed to keep hold of his weapon. He opened his eyes, gritting his teeth against the unfamiliar pain, to see the woman walking towards him with a faint smirk on her lips as she pushed her sword a few inches out of its sheath.
"Well, this is a lucky break," she said, "I was hoping I'd be the one to find you. Do me a favour and make this fun for me, its been too long since I got to play."
Hatchet Face gritted his teeth in rage. It was that very arrogance he hated most about Capes, the fact that they looked down on people they viewed as weaker than them. His power let him bring them down to the level of Human, to see how the powerless felt before they died, but for some reason, this bitch appeared to be unaffected. Still, even if he couldn't neutralize her powers, he was still strong enough to kill her!
He let out a roar and surged to his feet, swinging his hatchet with all his strength and…
"Tch, what a waste of time," said the woman known as Black Crow, better known as Karasuba, as she flicked blood off her sword and returned it to its sheath, "All that build up and he disappoints me."
"Well, this is unusual," said a beautiful woman as she landed next to Karasuba in a swirl of wind and flower petals.
She had dark purple hair and eyes, as well as an impressive figure most modals would happily commit murder to have and was carrying a hipflask that had been full of saki, but was now clearly empty judging from the stench of alcohol that surrounded her.
"Whats unusual?" asked Karasuba.
"Normally you'd toy with our targets before finishing them off," said Kazehana.
"I'm in a bit of a rush today," said Karasuba as she and Kazehana started making their way back to the rendezvous point so they could catch their lift home, "Somethings come up at home that I need to deal with."
"Oh, I still can't believe that you found your Ashikabi before me," pouted Kazehana, "I was certain that you'd scare everyone off with that attitude of yours. Not only that, but you've got your adorable Daughter! I'm so jealous!"
"Heh, to be honest, I'm as surprised as you," said Karasuba with a soft smile, pulling out her phone and flipping it open to reveal a photo of her with a bespectacled man holding a small girl with curly brown hair, "Still, I wouldn't change it for the world…"
She smirked, her soft smile turning to one so much more at home on the sadistic Sekirei's face.
"Plus, I get to see just what my little girls Ashikabis made of," she said.
"Just don't hurt him," said Kazehana, "I get that you want to make sure hes right for her, but if anything happens to him…"
"I know, I know," said Karasuba, tucking her phone away, "But I still want to make sure he won't do anything stupid."
The two women stepped out of the treeline and onto a small carpark where a van with the Guild symbol on the side was waiting for them, along with a young woman in the same uniform as the two Sekirei with long, brown hair in a ponytail and brown eyes leaning against it with a strange expression on her face.
"Is something wrong Yume?" asked Kazehana.
"No, not really," said Yume, "But I can't help but feel that something very strange has happened…"
She looked up as a pair of small birds flew out of the trees, only to be joined by another two as they fluttered through the air.
"I have a feeling that some of the Little Birds who have lost their way will soon find their Wings and fly further than anyone could imagine."
Karasuba and Kazehana glanced at each other and the latter shrugged, before taking a big gulp from her flask.
"No idea," she said.
Karasuba sighed.
"Very profound I'm sure," she said, "Now can we please go home? I've got a boy to threaten!"
"ACHOO!"
TWACK!
I smacked face first into the ground as my momentary distraction earned me a training sword to the back of the head. I groaned in pain as the rest of my body protested violently as the many other bruises that covered me from Miya's training throbbed, despite the fact that I was wearing a couple of items that boosted my healing.
I'd been out back with Miya for two hours by this point (which had helped me conclude that I had received a boost to my physiology from whatever had dumped me here since, while I was breathing heavily, I should have been flat on my back), during which time she'd given me a basic rundown of how to hold and swing the training sword properly before proceeding to beat me senseless while shouting tips and holding back just enough that I could actually keep up.
When asked between bouts, she told me that she wasn't interested in teaching me how to fight for tournaments or to show off, but to survive and be able to fight, so there was little point in teaching me any ridged style since that would take to long. If I was interested, I could learn that later, but for now, being able to fight was more important.
I had no argument for that, nor did I really want to and quickly found myself flat on my back again afterwards.
On the up side, I was lasting longer and longer against Miya as my training gear helped my body adapt and learn at a speed that was actually rather scary. I had to wonder if that was how Uber felt when he first got his powers.
"Don't get distracted," said Miya as I sat up rubbing my head, "Do that in a real fight and you could end up dead."
"I know, but that sneeze came out of nowhere," I grumbled, "I think someones talking about me."
"Heh, you actually believe that old wives tale?" asked Kagari as he stepped through the doors.
"In a world like this, its far from impossible," I said as I tilted my head back.
As I did, I noticed something a little odd. Namely that Kagari looked a little...different.
"Um, you didn't have tits yesterday, did you?" I asked without thinking.
Kagari's eye twitched slightly, before he sighed and sat down on the step.
"I'm one of the Single Digits," he said as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a small flame generated on his thumb, "Unfortunately, for reasons I don't feel like going into, my abilities come with the issue of my gender being unstable. Basically, I tend to switch gender daily. Its…annoying to say the least, but I'm used to it."
I blinked then shook my head.
"Fair enough," I said, then flipped to my feet.
I paused for a moment to absorb the fact that I'd learnt to do that in less than a day. My power is freaking awesome.
Then all thoughts were banished as I brought up my training sword to block an arm numbing strike from Miyas.
"Wow, you look like hell."
I turned my head and fixed Taylor with a half hearted glare. My Sekirei just grinned and walked into the room where I was working on Enchanting my gear, dropping down next to me and leaning into me with a sigh.
"Are you OK?" I asked.
"Yeah, just glad to have a moment to breath," she said, "Todays been...interesting."
"Does it have anything to do with the fact that your here at one?" I asked.
"You could say that," said Taylor.
After a bit of prompting, Taylor told me about what happened. I was mildly surprised that Assault was a Sekirei, but it wasn't really a big issue.
"Did you know that Sophia was Shadow Stalker?" asked Taylor once she was done.
"I did," I said, "I actually intended to deal with her at some point, but it sounds like her own stupidity saved me the trouble."
"And the reason you didn't mention it was…?"
"Largely because shes easy to deal with," I said, "One photo of Shadow Stalker on an unauthorized patrol with lethal ammunition and the PRT would likely come down on her with both feet. If that didn't work, I'd drop a bug in Armsmasters ear about her violating her parole and let him sort it out."
"How would you manage that?" asked Taylor.
"Lets just say that Colin isn't exactly a desk jockey," I said.
"Oh? OHHH!"
Taylors eyes went wide and she glanced in the direction of Colin and Tess' room.
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Huh…"
There was a moments silence as I put aside the shirt I was Enchanting and picked up the gloves. For some reason, the material was incredibly receptive to my power and accepted the Enchantments with startling ease, enough that I could put far more potency in with less energy than I was expecting.
"Hey Lucas, I was wondering something," said Taylor.
"Hmm?"
"Do you know why Emma turned on me?"
I paused and glanced at my Sekirei.
"I do," I said, "But do you really want to hear it from me?"
Taylor looked thoughtful for a moment, before she shook her head.
"No, I want to hear it from Emma," she said, "Mr Barnes said that they are going to be looking into getting her some therapy, so I'll try asking her in the future. I would like to know what happened to her though."
I sighed.
"She died," I said, "In the final battle, she refused to evacuate and ended up committing suicide by inaction. She was basically broken by everything she went through."
I sighed again.
"Honestly, its more tragic than anything."
"I...see," said Taylor, looking like she wasn't entirely sure what to make of it all, "What about the others?"
"Sophia had her life ruined by one of the Undersiders to took offence at her treatment of you and Madison...well, I don't know exactly what happened, but she changed for the better. She blamed herself for your fall to the dark side. Honestly, out of the three of them, shes pretty much a non-entity and was only doing it to fit in. Emma did it as a coping mechanism and Sophia is just fucked in the head, but Madison...yeah, she'll probably approach you to apologize at some point."
I paused and looked up at the ceiling in thought.
"In fact, if I know the cliches attached to the Worm fandom, she'll probably Trigger and become a Hero to make up for it...or turn out to be another Sekirei."
Taylor pulled a face.
"You know, its extremely weird to talk about my life like its a fictional story," she grumbled.
"How do you think I feel?" I asked, "Heck, I wrote fics for Worm!"
"Thats...a little creepy," muttered Taylor, "So was...Worm popular?"
"More than a little," I said, "Honestly, it was one of the more popular stories to write fix-it fics for, most likely because it was so horrible. The fics ranged from making you so incredibly powerful you scared the Endbringers, to ones that were slightly more balanced and you still ended up going through shit, although the outcome was generally better. Hell, I've even seen fics where you ended up with the Endbringers as family, either adopted, a result of your power or, in one case, the biological daughter of the Simurgh."
Taylors face went a bit of a funny colour at the thought.
"That sounds...scary," she said.
"Great read, although I certainly wouldn't want to live it," I said with a slight smile.
Taylor shuddered and quickly turned the conversation away from Worm and towards the different books I'd read over in my reality, compared with the ones available here, making sure not to bring up the subject again. We kept chatting for the remaining time until the two of us were called down to lunch.
After lunch was over, Miya called me outside again for another training session while Taylor was handed over to Kagari (who appeared to have switched back to male form) for a round of training of her own. I Enchanted her sports gear before we started with the same learning Enchantments as mine carried to see if they worked for other people. As it turned out, they did.
"Well, I can safely say that your now good enough to hold your own against most opponents and not chop off your own limbs by accident now," said Miya once we were done for the day, "After one days training. Please excuse my french, but your power is bullshit Lucas."
I snorted.
"That is a freaking understatement," I said.
"Hmm," said Miya, "I'm not done with you yet of course, I intend to make sure you can hold your own against just about anyone before that happens, but I'm confident enough that you know what your doing to give you this."
She picked up a package that had been leaning against the wall of the house and handed it to me. Curious, I unwrapped it, revealing a black lacquered box with the Sekirei symbol on the front and golden clasps I opened it and my eyes bugged out when I saw what was inside.
Resting on a bed of red silk was a Nodachi with dark red wrapping around the hilt, a golden kashira, a diamond shaped tsuba, a white sheath with red rope wrapped around it part way down and a golden tip.
I slowly lifted the weapon from its resting place and unsheathed it a few inches, revealing a gleaming steel blade that looked like it had never even been used.
"Ah, are you sure its OK to give me this?" I asked, my voice a little horse from shock.
"Of course," said Miya, "I trust you not to do anything stupid with it and it was just sitting in storage anyway. I'd rather see it used to help keep one of my Sekirei safe than rust away as a fancy bit of decoration."
"I...I see," I said, more than a little taken aback at the gesture.
"Plus, I'm a little curious to see what you'll do with it," said Miya, "That is a Sekirei weapon, not one create by Earthly means. Unlike my Totsuga or Karasuba's sword, it doesn't have any special properties, other than being stronger and sharper than any Human sword, so it'll be interesting to see how your power responds to it."
I nodded slowly as I unsheathed the sword the rest of the way. To be honest, I was curious as well. I wasn't sure why, but for some reason, Sekirei creations, like the fabric in my costume, seemed to take my power easily, so I was interested to see how a Sekirei weapon, one likely designed to channel a Sekirei's power, would react to it. I set aside the sheath, activated my power and…
I blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out how the fuck I'd ended up flat on my back with a throbbing head, before Taylors worried face appeared in front of me.
"Are you OK?" she asked.
"I...think so?" I said as I slowly sat up, "What happened?"
"I don't know, all I know is that you suddenly passed out," said Taylor, "What were you doing?"
"Well, I was about to Enchant the sword Miya gave me, then…" I trailed off as I turned my head and saw Miya examining the sword in question.
Then, my eyes widened as she lifted it.
"NO, DON…"
THOOM!
I was cut off as Miya swung the sword and an enormous blast of white light erupted, annihilating the fence, a lamp post and, fortunately, an entire alleyway of bins and dumpsters across the street before dissipating before it could destroy the wall of the building at the far end, but not before it scored a deep gash in the brickwork. Miya stared at the destruction, before glancing at me.
"Did you mean to do that?" she asked.
"Not really," I said, cringing slightly at the stench of ozone lingering in the air and the look on Miya's face, "I intended to give it the ability to generate an electrical current, but for some reason, the moment I started the process, it absorbed all my power and took on properties of its own. I'm not even sure what it can do."
"I see," she said, "I hope your not planning on using this…"
"HELLS no!" I said emphatically, "Theres no way I'm using a weapon like that for thugs!"
Miya stared at me for a moment longer, then nodded.
"Good," she said and sheathed the sword.
To my suprise, the blade didn't simply slice through the sheath, but I brushed it off for now. Instead, I reached into the first aid box Taylor had brought and grabbed a roll of bandages. I measured out a length and cut it off, ignoring the looks I was getting from the two Sekirei, and charged the fabric with my power. Once that was done, I picked up my sword and held the bandage close to it. The moment one end came into contact with the weapon, it came alive and wrapped tightly around the hilt and sheath, blinding the sword tightly inside the sheath.
"There, that oughta do it," I said.
"Do what?" asked Miya.
"The bandage is a Seal," I said, "Basically, so long as it remains wrapped around the sword, its power is sealed. I don't really want to activate it by accident and vaporize some poor schmuck in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Yeahhh, that could be bad," said Taylor, glancing at the devastation that came from a relatively small swing of the blade.
"Do you still intend to use it?" asked Miya, sounding curious.
"Sure, I can still Enchant the sheath after all," I said, shifting my grip to do just that, "Plus, while its not really suitable for use against mooks, you never know when a trump card will come in handy."
Miya nodded, looking satisfied.
"Just remember, that power of yours is dangerous," she said, "Be careful."
"Thats probably good advice."
Without thinking, I reacted to the sudden voice from right behind me and swung my sword at the source. However, instead of cracking into a skull, it smacked into another sheathed sword and was shoved aside with little apparent effort.
"Not bad, but you need more training," said the newcomer.
I blinked as I took him in. He was tall and slim, with silvery hair and gray eyes. Other than that, his outfit was immediately recognizable as the one worn by Number 5, Mutsu, albeit with the PRT logo on his breast.
"Um, thanks?" I said.
"Do you need something Mutsu?" asked Miya with a slightly strained smile.
"I was just curious as to what cause this," said Mutsu, waving at the deverstation, "New Triggers tend to cause trouble and Emily prefers to remain on top of things. So, your the cause?"
"Ehhhh, sort of," I said, then blinked, "Wait, Emily? As in, Emily Piggot?"
"Hnn, shes my Ashikabi," said Mutsu.
I blinked and pulled a face. That...wasn't what I was expecting in all honesty. Still, it could be worse I guess. At least he wasn't working for Coil or something, if only because I really didn't want to fight a Single Digit if I could help it.
"Anyway, now I know its not a new Villain, I'll be on my way," said Mutsu, "See ya Hannya, kid."
He wandered off down the street.
"Well, that was...interesting?" said Taylor while Miya just sighed.
"Hes always been like that," she said, "Where did I go wrong with him…"
"Heh, you sound like his Mother," I muttered.
"Hmm?"
I flinched as Miya turned her smile on me.
"Mother? Oh no, I'm more like a big sister," she said as her Mask appeared.
"R-right, big sister!" I yelped.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the mask vanished and Miya headed inside to start the dinner.
"Jeeze, and I thought my Mom was scary," muttered Taylor.
She shook her head.
"Anyway, now that we're done with the chaos, I was wondering if you were free tomorrow?" she asked.
"Well, considering all I have to do at the moment is research or get the crap beaten out of me, I'd say yes," I said.
Taylor ignored my sarcasm.
"In that case, how about we go shopping?" she asked, "I can show you around the city and you can get some clothes and other necessities of your own."
"That sounds like a good idea," I said, "Although I don't exactly have any money…"
"Don't worry, I can pay," said Taylor, "Moms job pays well, so we're not exactly hurting for cash. Plus, Dad said he didn't mind covering getting you set up."
"Well, thats nice of him," I said, "Sure, why not? I can't keep borrowing clothes and all I have is a toothbrush. Hmm, I wonder if I could make some money with my powers…"
I shrugged.
"Something to look into I guess."
I got to my feet and glanced at the hole in the fence.
"I really hope Miya doesn't make me fix that," I said.
"Well, it was kinda your fault," said Taylor.
"How was it my fault?" I asked, "She was the one who swung around an Enchanted weapon without knowing what it did!"
We headed back inside, playfully bickering the whole way. As we did, I couldn't help but smile. I hadn't been here for long and I knew that things would only get harder, but for the first time, I honestly felt like I belonged.
Hmm, not sure where that ending came from...eh, whatever. Speaking of not having any idea where all this came from, I honestly expected to have done the Bank Job by now, but stuff took longer than I thought...eh, I guess thats a good thing in the long run.
Just in case anyone hasn't already figured out that Karasuba was Taylors Mother in this world, heres Karasuba hunting down Hatchet Face. If your wondering why he wasn't already dead, without the Nine backing him up, he was much less of a danger. Still bad enough to send the Discipline Squad after, but not enough that he was high up the list compared with some of the other nasties.
I'm not sure why Kazehana's a drunk in this reality, but considering that its a pretty big part of her character, she is. I might come up with a reason later, but for now its because she just likes booze.
I'm...not entirely sure where the fourth wall breaking chat came from, it just...happened. They won't be regular things, although there will be some more.
In case its not obvious or you just haven't watched the Fairy Tail Anime, I based Lucas' sword on Archenemy, the sword used by Kagura Mikazuchi. Its abilities aren't exactly the same and its sheath has properties of its own, but I loved the design and idea so much I just had to use it.
Mutsu's come a fairly long way. To be honest, I don't really like him much, but I think a lot of that came from a fic I read at some point. I originally intended for him to be a Villain, but after some thought, I decided it wouldn't be appropriate. Instead, hes Piggots Sekirei. Yeah, thats...more than a little odd.
Last point before I wrap this up, I'm having trouble coming up with a good name for Lucas and Taylor. I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete. Ideas please!
Anyway, time to wrap this up. Until next time, don't forget to leave a review!